My Thailand Blog by Richard Barrow

This afternoon I went to visit the Silom Walking Street which will run for three days from 28-30 May 2010 from 10 a.m. to 7 p.m.

The one-kilometer long walking street was set up to help retail operators who have been hard hit by the red shirt protests over the last two months. About 700 stalls were set up on both sides of the road and there was also entertainment for the crowds.

There were literally thousands of people on the streets walking up and down buying things or sitting down to eat. In some places it was too crowded to move.

It was great to see so many people coming out to support the retailers. The BMA said that if this was successful then they will do more events like this in the future. In addition to the stalls, there were also stages where there were mini concerts.

- Posted from my iPhone

This morning I drove into Bangkok to visit the Bangkok Post Thailand Travel Fair at the Queen Sirikit Convention Center.

The three day event,  from 28-30 May 2010, was opened by Mr Surapol Svetasreni, the Governor of the Tourism Authority of Thailand (TAT).  He told the audience that the aim of the fair was to boost the local economy by encouraging Thai people to travel in Thailand.

At the travel fair it is possible to get good prices for accommodation, tours and also airline tickets. This is the first big travel fair since the red shirt protests closed down much of Bangkok for two months.

- Posted from my iPhone

I was up early this morning to go and take pictures at Wat Klang in Samut Prakan City.  Today is the full moon and an important Buddhist holiday called Visakha Bucha.

When I arrived shortly after 7 a.m., there were already hundreds of local people at the temple with many more arriving all the time. They were coming to make merit and also to take part in chanting and to listen to a sermon.

As they arrived, many of them bought a selection of fresh food. This wasn’t for themselves but to use as an offering for the Buddhist monks. To make the most merit you should really prepare the food yourselves at home. But not many people have time for this these days.

Once they had bought the food, they said a short prayer and then offered the food to a long line of monk bowls. The monks are not standing here unlike the times when they go out on their alms rounds.

During these festivals, you often see beggars at the temple. Thai people like to make merit by giving money to local poor people.

At about 7.30 a.m. the monks filed into the sermon hall to lead the local people in chanting. The most senior monk is to the left of this picture. The order is not by age but by number of years as a monk.

There were about 600 people in and around this temple. There wasn’t enough room for them inside so many were sitting outside. After the chanting, they listened to a sermon. Many of them will be back at the temple this evening for a candlelight procession.

- Posted from my iPhone

Early this morning, I went to the King Rama VI statue in Lumphini for a mass merit-making ceremony that included representatives from the five major religions in Thailand.

Due to light traffic, I arrived early at about 5.30 a.m. I drove up and down Ratchadamri Road all the way to Ratchaprasong and noted that they had set up tents at regular intervals for local people to come and make merit by offering food to the monks.

The main event took place in front of the Rama VI statue near the Sala Daeng Intersection. The guest of honour was Bangkok Governor Mr. Sukhumbhand Paribatra. It started with a Brahmin ritual and was followed by Buddhist chanting.

The merit-making ceremonies were dedicated to those who had died. However, it was also a way to boost the morale of Bangkok people and to bring “good luck” back to the city. After the chanting, the Governor led thousands of local people in offering food to the monks.

In this picture, you can see some people from Bangkok offering food to a monk in front of the King Rama VI statue at the entrance to Lumphini Park.

Along Ratchadamri Road, many tables were set up so that local people could stand and wait for an estimated 1,000 monks to come and collect alms.

The MCOT presenter on the right called out my name and said she guessed who I was. Seconds before she went on air, she quickly took a photo of us together with her Blackberry. Apparently she follows me on Twitter! Although I took my regular DSLR camera, I found myself using my iPhone exclusively for all these pictures.

- Posted from my iPhone

Today for the first time, I was surprised to see that armed soldiers had arrived at the Provincial Hall in Samut Prakan. I think this is the first time we have had soldiers here since the coup.

For the last two months, the city hall area has been guarded by people from Samut Prakan. However, as I found out last week after my chat with one of them, some of the guards are actually red sympathisers!

The Reds had threatened to burn down the provincial hall if they were forcibly evicted from Ratchaprasong. I think only now they are taking this threat seriously. So, that is why the soldier arrived here late last night during curfew. Although they have guns, they don’t have any clips from what I saw.

Up to this point, Samut Prakan hasn’t suffered from any of the riots or violence. Maybe because it is a Red stronghold. I think it is really doubtful anything will happen here but I guess it is better to have soldiers here and be safe.

- Posted from my iPhone

After walking up Ratchdamri Road, I finally reached Ratchaprasong Intersection. This is an area that I have visited a lot the last month or so when the Reds were occupying these roads.

I have taken a picture quite a few times recently but it is usually full of Reds! Now it is calm and peaceful.

This is a view looking towards the intersection. Straight ahead was the Red’s main stage less than one week ago. There were only protesters here before but now volunteers who have come to clean up their city.

There were also foreigners helping to clean the city. This man is being interviewed in what was the back stage area for the Red leaders.

This is a picture of Rama I Road between BTS Chidlom and BTS Phloenchit. Twice last week we had to walk down here in the pitch darkness scared of sniper fire that thankfully never came. Look how calm it is now.

This is the final picture that I took with my iPhone of my walkabout this afternoon. It was taken from the platform of BTS Phloenchit station. As you can see, a beautiful blue sky with not one fire burning!

- Posted from my iPhone

After walking around Silom and Saladaeng, taking pictures of Bangkok volunteers cleaning up their city, I then decided to walk up Ratchadamri Road towards Ratchaprasong.

The BMA city workers were out in force today to help clear up the rubbish left behind after the Reds occupation of this road. It is a dangerous job as some handmade bombs were found near here this afternoon!

Here are a couple of people are helping to clean two elephants in the middle of Ratchadamri Road.

Not all of the work was easy. These volunteers had a hard time trying to sweep away the black soot left behind after the tyre barricade was set on fire by the Reds.

This picture shows you why BTS Ratchadamri station is not open yet. As you can see, the steps leading up to the station suffered some fire damage.

This is a view from one of the pedestrian bridges looking north up Ratchadamri Road. As you can see, it is clear and should be open to traffic tomorrow.

While I was walking up the road, I came across the Bangkok Governor doing a walkabout to thank the local people who had come to help clean up the city. He looked very tired.

Another big job was cleaning all of the graffiti that was written on walls and on the ground.

This final picture shows two red songtaews that had come here all the way from Chiang Mai. They have been damaged during the fighting or maybe later. Not sure why they are still here as everything else has been cleared.

- Posted from my iPhone

This morning, I caught the newly re-opened BTS Skytrain and MRT Subway to Silom to witness first-hand Bangkok people coming out to help clean up their community.

The slogan for the campaign was “Together We Can”. Everyone met at 9 a.m. in front of the King Rama VI statue outside Lumphini Park. They registered first and then were told which roads they could go down to help clean. This man is helping to clean the Silom Road sign.

Many people came with their own brooms and joined BMA staff in sweeping the roads clean. They had a hard job as there was also graffiti and stickers everywhere.

Here an employee from McDonald’s is cleaning Ronnie McDonald outside the Silom branch. She told me that they are due to open again on Monday.

Here are a couple of volunteers helping to hose down the road at Silom. There were also soldiers there helping to clean the telephone booths. Many of them were given flowers by the local people.

This picture of King Rama VI statue where people were registering for the event, shows some damage in the foreground when the APC’s bulldozed through the Red barricade last week.

Soldiers now have a low profle in Silom and other places around Bangkok. But, there are still armed patrols which reminds us that this might not be over yet.

- Posted from my iPhone

It was so sad about the burning of Central World at Ratchaprasong in Bangkok. This is, or was, the biggest shopping mall in Thailand. This honour now goes back to Siam Paragon that was untouched during the rioting.

This is the middle section of Central World that has completely collapsed.

When I was there this afternoon, firefighters were still working on the fire.

Amazingly, the golden statue in front of Zen looks intact.

- Posted from my iPhone

This is a video I shot this afternoon at Ratchaprasong. It shows the empty rally stage, the burned out Central World, Zen department store, Siam Theatre and other locations destroyed by the riots. It was shot on my iPhone and uploaded to youtube.

One of the quietest locations I visited today was Siam Square. It was deadly quiet.

I have never before seen Siam Square so empty and quiet. You could hear a pin drop this afternoon. The only people here were shopowners coming to see if they shop had survived the riots.

Luckily for many shopkeepers, there weren’t too many shops that had been gutted. This one had started burning again and then fireman came to douse the fire again.

- Posted from my iPhone